The Bernie Mac Show
The Bernie Mac Show (often shortened to Bernie Mac in syndication) is an American sitcom that aired on Fox for five seasons from November 14, 2001 to April 14, 2006. The series featured comic actor Bernie Mac and his wife Wanda raising his sister's three kids: Jordan, Vanessa, and Bryana. About/information The series was loosely based on Mac's stand-up comedy acts. In real life, Bernie "Mac" McCullough was married with one daughter; Mac's character on the show (a stand-up comedian) was married with no children of his own. The pilot episode, aired on November 14, 2001, set up the basic premise for the series: the character Bernie Mac takes in his sister's children after she enters rehab (a premise taken from one of Mac's routines in the 2000 film, The Original Kings of Comedy). Much of the humor in the show was derived from Mac's continual adjustment to and his unique take on parenthood. A frequent motif of the show was the juxtaposition of Mac's acerbic comments, such as his threats to "bust the (children's) heads 'til the white meat shows," and the deep parental affection he felt towards the trio, which often brought him to the verge of tears during happy moments. Towards the end of the series, Bryana's long-lost father (Anthony Anderson) returns and drops by from time to time to help Bernie and Wanda with the kids. Many of his most emotional scenes occurred in segments in which Mac, while still in character, broke the 'fourth wall' and talked to the television audience. This technique was most notably used before an episode during the 2005-2006 season, when Bernie, as himself and wearing a Chicago White Sox cap and jacket, delivered a heartfelt congratulatory message to the baseball organization and its staff on their recent World Series Championship. Bernie, who grew up on Chicago's south-side, was a die-hard fan of the White Sox and was seen at Game 1 of the World Series, in a front row seat. As was also the case during his stand-up routine, Mac habitually addressed the audience as "America" for humorous effect. The lighting of the shots typically appears to be yellowish in color. Mac's character's celebrity worked as a plot device allowing other celebrities to appear on the show as themselves. Don Cheadle, Halle Berry, Serena Williams, Chris Rock, Ashton Kutcher, Dom DeLuise, Billy Crystal, Carl Reiner, Don Rickles, Angela Bassett, Ellen DeGeneres, Ice Cube, Isaac Hayes, Lucy Lawless, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, Matt Damon, Wesley Snipes, Charles Barkley, Jon Garland, Jules Sylvester, Sugar Ray Leonard, India Arie, Snoop Dogg, Shaquille O'Neal, Sugar Shane Mosley, Hugh Hefner, and Phil McGraw have all appeared as themselves over the course of the show. Cast *Bernie McCullough (Bernie Mac) — The show's main protagonist who is loosely based upon the late comedian of the same name. Bernie and his wife took in the three kids when their drug-addled mother, his sister Stacy, was no longer able to be a proper parent. Bernie uses tough-love parenting tactics and he can be both strict and comical. He narrates the series, and between scenes he talks to the audience by addressing them as "America." Although he loves all three kids, his favorite is Bryana (whom he affectionately calls "Baby Girl" because she is the youngest), and always finds himself going head to head with teenage Vanessa, the eldest sibling, whose poor attitude always gives him a hard time; though it is revealed in the episode Jac and Jacequline that the only reason he's so hard on her is because she reminds him of her mother and he's determined to keep her from suffering a similar fate to her mother. *Wanda "Baby" McCullough (Kellita Smith) — Bernie's loving wife, a very intelligent woman who is VP for AT&T. She loves raising the kids with Bernie, but periodically her patience is tested. Whenever Bernie has a problem, she does her best to help, though her assistance can be stubbornly overbearing and unnecessary at times. Also, it has been stated that most of Bernie's family thinks she's snooty and is not above using seduction to make Bernie to fix a mistake. She plays a minor role in the series finale. *Bryana "Baby Girl" Thomkins (Dee Dee Davis) — Bernie and Wanda's younger niece, the youngest child and the half-sister of Jordan and Vanessa. Bryana is a friendly little girl who is sweet, innocent, and quite naive, though she is often more bratty and obnoxious as the series progresses. Bryana is her uncle's favorite (although he loves all three). Bryana is playful and always trusts her Uncle Bernie. One of her favorite TV characters was Drooby (a parody of Barney) until she found out that he was only a man in a costume (David Faustino in a guest role). Bryana is known for always attacking and successfully beating up her older brother Jordan. *Jordan Thomkins (Jeremy Suarez) — Bernie and Wanda's nephew, the middle child. Jordan is very nerdy and peculiar. He is interested in collecting bugs and conducting odd science experiments. He is always getting beat up by his little sister, Bryana; though on very minor occasions, he has been able to scare her in retaliation and make her cry. Early on in the series, Jordan would always cry and urinate on himself. As the series progressed, he gets tougher and more masculine. He took an interest in magic and even began trying to date girls. Although he knows that there is nothing wrong with Jordan, Bernie tries to his best to make him more masculine. * Vanessa "Nessa" Thomkins (Camille Winbush) — Bernie and Wanda's elder niece, the eldest of the three children\. Vanessa always purposely gives Bernie trouble with her nasty attitude, but most of this attitude comes from the pressure of being the eldest and having to take the parent role with her younger siblings. As the series progresses, she gets along better with Bernie and grows up into a young woman preparing for college. In the final season, she spends most of her time trying to find the perfect college and rejecting Bernie's help with that. Recurring cast *Reginald Ballard — W.B. *Carlos Mencia — Chuy (season 1) *Lombardo Boyar — Chuy *Michael Ralph — Kelly *Rick Hoffman — Jerry Best *Wade Williams — Father Sean Cronin - The Dean of Discipline *Anthony Anderson — Bryan, Bryanna's father (season 5) *Naya Rivera — Donna (recurring) *Ashley Monique Clark — Teri (guest star in season 3, recurring seasons 4-5) Unseen Cast *Stacey Thomkins - One of two of Bernie's sisters and Vanessa, Jordan, and Bryana's mother. Before the events of the show, she became addicted to drugs; Bernie had to place her in an institution to recover and took in her children until the time came she could care for them herself. Though institutionalized, Stacey's addiction was such that she was not known to make any serious attempts to recover and her children remain with Bernie for the run of the series. It is unknown if she ever overcame her addictions. Her picture is seen once in "Road to Traditions". *Mr. Thomkins - Vanessa and Jordan's biological father, who left them when she was five years of age and he was a baby. According to Bernie and Vanessa, he's in prison for various law violations that include shooting a man. Though not seen in person during the series, his picture is shown in the episode 'Saving Sergeant Thompkins'. *Big Mama - Bernie's deceased mother Cancellation After five seasons and 104 episodes, Fox announced the cancellation of The Bernie Mac Show. The series finale titled "Bernie's Angels" focused on Bernie getting an electrical shock and ends up traumatized. After he recovers, he begins to teach Jordan and Bryanna how to do certain things on their own. Also, Vanessa doesn't want Bernie to be involved in her choosing a college. Meanwhile, Jordan takes advantage of Bernie's kindness. In the end, Vanessa and Bernie make up (mainly due to her writing an essay about who inspires her most: which is him). In the final scene of the series, Bernie goes back to his normal self and takes back the iPod he bought Jordan since he was taking advantage of him. Bernie's final line is a farewell message to the viewers and stating that he is going to continue to raise and teach the kids for as long as they need it and he also wishes the viewers luck. The scene pans out with Jordan on his knees sobbing and begging for the iPod while Bernie smugly laughs and teases him. Main Crew *Creator: Larry Wilmore and Bernie Mac *Executive Producers: Pete Aronson, Warren Hutcherson. *Co-Executive Producers: Bernie Mac, Richard Appel, Teri Schaffer, Michael Benson, Marc Abrams. *Producers: Michael Petok, Steven Greener Syndication The series had been airing in syndication since September 2005 and was on the FX network (as of 2011), but is not on the channel's schedule in the autumn of that year.3 On various television stations, the series' title is shortened simply to Bernie Mac. In addition to being in worldwide syndication, Bernie Mac's hometown of Chicago airs the series on the city's independent station The U. The Bernie Mac Show has been on that station since 2005, remaining after Mac's 2008 death in his honor. However, at the beginning of fall 2009, the series was moved to The U's sister station Me-TV. In 2010, the series was removed from the lineup of both stations. On the day of Mac's funeral, The U aired a retrospective TV special called A Tribute to Bernie Mac, which featured clips from the series and an interview with Camille Winbush, who portrayed Vanessa. As of 2011, cable channels BET and Centric have begun airing the series Awards and nominations The Bernie Mac Show won a Peabody Award in 2001,4 the Humanitas Prize, a Writing in a Comedy Series, three NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series, and was honored by the Television Critics Association. For his role in the show, Bernie Mac was honored by the Television Critics Association for Individual Achievement in a Comedy as well as the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series four years in a row: 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006.